Control device for feeding animal skins to longitudinal cutters

ABSTRACT

A pair of uniformly running and converging conveyor belts move animal skins to a transverse, adjustable knife. The belts may take a wavy form just prior to the discharge end thereof and either one of the belts or the support roller therefor may be resilient.

Unite ttes atet inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented Priorities CONTROL DEVICE FOR FEEDING ANIMAL SKINS T0 LONGITUDINAL CUTTERS 2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 69/10, 69/ 1 3 Int. Cl C1411 1/18 Field of Search 69/ 10, 9,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 909,157 1/1909 Chilson 69/10 1,038,561 9/1912 Gay 69/10 1,264,232 4/1918 Walter et a1. 69/10 1,370,392 3/1921 Wright et a1 69/33 UX 1,952,177 3/1934 MacDonald 69/10 X 3,165,912 1/1965 Grossmann 69/10 3,473,244 10/1969 Milone et a1 69/41 Primary ExaminerAlfred R. Guest AttorneyClario Ceccon ABSTRACT: A pair of uniformly running and converging conveyor belts move animal skins to a transverse, adjustable knife. The belts may take a wavy form just prior to the discharge end thereof and either one of the belts or the support roller therefor may be resilient.

PATENIEDJAII 4312 3631.693

SHEET 2 OF 2 CONTROL DEVICE FOR FEEDING ANIMAL SKINS TO LONGITUDINAL CUTTERS The present invention relates generally to skin splitting machines and more particularly to such machines designed to effect a longitudinal cut of the skins, parallel to their principal faces.

In known machines of above-said type, the feeding of skins towards the cutting blade is obtained by means of two pressure rollers, to which the skin is manually fed. The rollers are capable of pushing the skin towards the blade located at the output of said rollers.

The prior art system presents various drawbacks due to the dangers to which the operators are exposed, the difficulty in pushing the skin, which is slippery, towards the rollers and to the handling of the skin coming from a caustic bath.

Further, the skin feeding must be very accurate to avoid the formation of folds and wrinkles which may adversely affect the cut.

The object of the present invention is to obviate said drawbacks by providing a device allowing the automatic feeding of the skins, without any manual intervention, towards the blade in the splitting machines, in order to obtain a high production per hour, to produce an absolutely precise cut and to reduce the necessary handling.

A further object of present invention is to provide a device as described above having a single and rugged construction that is easy and practical to use and to operate accurately.

A particular feature of the device, according to the invention, is that it comprises two confronting conveyor belts whose face-to-face runs move at the same speed and in the same travelling direction towards the cutting blade. The inlet sections of the two belts are spread apart and approach one another progressively to facilitate the gripping of the skins and to eliminate possible wrinkles while the skin, grasped by the two belts, is driven towards the blade.

The use of the present device is not however limited to the skin splitting, as it may also be used for other operations on skins such as shearing and the like, as well as to cutting other sheet material such as cardboard, plastic laminate, etc.

Other particular features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the annexed drawing, given as a nonlimitative example and wherein:

FIG. I is a schematic longitudinal section of a device ac cording to the invention, in a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic longitudinal section of a detail of FIG. I in a different use condition;

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of another embodiment ofa device according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view on a greater scale of a detail of FIG. 3; and

FIG. Sis a view similar to FIG. 4 and represents a variant.

The device shown in FIG. I comprises two superposed con veyor belts 1 and 2 moving in such a way that their face-toface runs move at the same speed and in the same direction towards the cutting blade which is arranged transversely, adjacent to the belts outlet.

The upper belt 1 is moved by two main cylinders 3 and 4 one of which is a driving cylinder. The lower belt 2 is similarly moved by two cylinders 5 and 6, one of which is a driving cylinder. The belts I and 2 are provided with spring biased tension rollers 12 and 13, respectively, to allow the variation of tension during the operation of the device.

The upper belt 1 has a length shorter than that of the lower belt 2 and therefore the latter presents an initial zone 2a, up wardly free, facilitating the loading and the introduction of the skins 14.

The initial sections 1a and 2a of the belts are spread apart and approach one another progressively in order to facilitate the gripping of skin and the elimination of possible wrinkles and folds that the skin may present.

End sections Ib, 2b of belts, located adjacent to the cutting blade 15, follow a wavy path defined by idler rollers 7, 8, 9, I0

and 11 arranged at different heights so as to increase the friction condition between the two belts and the skin in order to ensure the feed and to overcome the shearing resistance presented by the skin.

The device described allows a uniform feed of the skin, to be split, towards the blade utilizing a single operator who lays down the skin upon the lower belt and if necessary a second operator who removes the two split branches of the skin Ma and 14b from the output rollers 3, 4 ofthe two belts.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the blade 15 is arranged in a central position with respect to rollers 3 and 5 to obtain the two sheets 14a and 1417 from skin 14.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the blade 15' is located nearer to one of the two end rollers 3, 5 in order to graze one of the faces of the travelling material to effect certain operations which, in the case of skins may be the shearing, flesh and similar operations.

The above embodiments of said device provide three different types of machines by utilizing the same mechanical arrangement and the same bearing structures. The difference between one machine and another will essentially reside in the different type of belts used and in the position of the cutting blade. If effect, in the splitting machines, the blade 15 will be located in an intermediate position with respect to the skin being worked (FIG. I) while in the machines to flesh or shear, the blade 15' will be located as represented in FIG. 2, in order to graze the lower face of the skin, keeping the skin adhering to the lower conveyor belt I.

This arrangement simplifies the construction of the machines effect cutting operations on skins or similar sheet materials and even permits, with suitable expedients, to utilize the same machines for different work by means of simple adaptation or replacement of pieces.

The device may be used to work moist or dry skins, already tanned or in the tanning phase, and eliminates the complex machines with rotating blades presently used for the same processings.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the device comprises two confronting conveyor belts I and 2 having the two face-to-face runs moving at the same speed and in the same direction towards a cutting blade 15, arranged transversely with respect to the travelling direction of material 14 which is interposed between the two belts.

The upper belt I is moved by a driving roller 3', by an input roller 4 and a third adjustment roller I6 placed adjacent to the cutting blade.

The adjustment roller I6 is opposed to a counterroller l7 and is mounted in such a way as to make it possible to adjust its distance from the blade.

The other belt 2 is moved by a driving roller 5', by an input roller 6 and a third adjustment roller 18, located adjacent to the cutting blade.

Roller 18 is opposed to two counterrollers 19 and 20, that are arranged to compensate for the stresses deriving from the cutting blade and the adjustment roller 16 of the first belt 1.

A pressure roller 21, located upstream relatively to the adjustment roller 16, ensures the gripping of the material or the skin during the feeding movement.

When the device is used on a machine for skin processing, and when it is necessary to obtain, by the cutting action, a first sheet 14a having a constant thickness and a second sheet 14b with a variable thickness, the embodiments as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 are used wherein one of the supports for the skin is capable of resiliently deforming in order to compensate for the thickness differences.

As illustrated on FIG. 4, one of the belts 2' is considerably thicker compared to the other belt and is formed of a resiliently deformable material, capable of flattening when a zone of the skin having a greater thickness is passing upon the blade 15. Therefore, one of the cut sheets 14a, being adherent to the upper belt I which is noncompressible and rigidly supported on roller I6, will have a constant thickness, while the other sheet 14b, located under the blade, may have a variable thickness, depending on the skin structure, as the thickness differences of same skin are absorbed by the resilience of the lower belt 2'.

According to an alternative embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, both the belts l and 2" are formed of a noncompressible material. The upper belt 1 bears against the rigid adjustment roller 16, while the lower belt 2" is supported by an adjustment roller 18' which is provided with a peripherical layer 180 of a resiliently yielding material, capable of deforming by flattening while a layer having a considerable thickness is passing under the blade.

The resiliently deformable layer of roller 18 may be obtained using yielding materials as rubber or the like, or using pneumatic elements suitable to give the same results.

Also the position of blade may be adjusted in a longitudinal or transverse direction as a function of the thickness of the layers to be cut.

It is obvious that other embodiments of the invention may have forms and construction widely varied with respect to the details described and illustrated without departing from the scope of present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for feeding and cutting skins or other sheet material, said apparatus comprising two confronting endless belts; means for driving the face-to-face runs of said belts at the same speed and in the same direction, the face-toface runs of said belts being convergent in the direction of travel to facilitate gripping the skins; a cutting blade positioned downstream of the output end of said belts; and means for imparting a wavy path of travel to the face-to-face runs of said belts, said last-mentioned means being located upstream of and proximate the output end of said belts.

2. The apparatus in accordance with claim I, wherein said means for imparting a wavy path of travel to the face-to-face runs of said belts comprises a plurality of longitudinally spaced, transversely oriented rollers arranged at different heights with respect to said belts and in contact therewith. 

1. Apparatus for feeding and cutting skins or other sheet material, said apparatus comprising two confronting endless belts; means for driving the face-to-face runs of said belts at the same speed and in the same direction, the face-to-face runs of said belts being convergent in the direction of travel to facilitate gripping the skins; a cutting blade positioned downstream of the output end of said belts; and means for imparting a wavy path of travel to the face-to-face runs of said belts, said last-mentioned means being located upstream of and proximate the output end of said belts.
 2. The apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein said means for imparting a wavy path of travel to the face-to-face runs of said belts comprises a plurality of longitudinally spaced, transversely oriented rollers arranged at different heights with respect to said belts and in contact therewith. 